Wisconsin leads the nation in sustainable agriculture By John Bobbe For The News-Chronicle Four Door County farms are taking the organic approach to help Wisconsin achieve sustainable farming. Recently, the University of Wisconsin-Madison published "Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin: 2003 Status Report," a document highlighted by Gov. Jim Doyle's agenda for agriculture. Doyle's "Grow Wisconsin" program includes a goal for Wisconsin to become an international leader in organic food production, processing and marketing. Wisconsin is a leading state in organic agriculture and some Door County farms are part of that movement. The organic food market is growing at an annual rate of more than 20 percent per year. To put the numbers in perspective, Wisconsin ranks third in the nation in the number of certified organic farms and fourth in the nation in acreage of organic cropland. Wisconsin ranks No. 1 in organic milk cows with 22 percent of the nation's organic milk cows. The state is also No. 1 in total organic livestock, No. 2 in acres of organic hay, No. 3 in acres of organic corn, No. 3 in acres of organic soybeans, No. 3 in acres of organic oats and organic barley and No. 3 in the number of organic turkeys grown. One of the success stories cited in the report is Organic Valley, the nation's largest organic cooperative, located in La Farge. In 1995, Organic Valley had sales of $9 million dollars with 2004 sales projected at around $180 million. "Organic Valley cooperative has been able to pay a sustainable price to dairy farmers while continuing to meet the mounting demand for milk produced organically," said George Siemon, chief executive officer of Organic Valley. "In the Midwest, from January through August 2003, the organic milk pay price averaged $19 per hundredweight, while the conventional milk pay price averaged only $11.53. Organic dairy farmers received an average $7.47 premium per hundredweight sold during this period." Door County is one of 58 counties in Wisconsin that have organic farms. The trend towards organic began in the early 1990s with founding of a sustainable farmers network in the county through funding from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. Several of those farms made the transition over a period of time to become certified organic dairy producers. The transition to become certified organic normally takes about three years. Door County has three organic dairy producers and a fourth farm is certified organic for crops. Together, the farms have about 1,000 acres of cropland certified as organic, and all three dairy farmers belong to Organic Valley. Door County farmer, Kevin Kiehnau, his wife Sue and two daughters operate a farm near West Jacksonport. They milk about 45 cows and farm about 290 acres. First certified organic in 1995, Kiehnau is on the Organic Valley Lakeshore Pool executive committee. The committee helps guide the cooperative in its policy decisions. Over the years, Kiehnau said, organic farming "kept me milking cows. "I would suspect I would have gotten by, but I wouldn't work for the conventional prices farmers are receiving," Kiehnau said. "I would have done something else for a living." Compared to other surrounding states, Wisconsin does less to support and promote organic agriculture, according to the status report. The University of Wisconsin ranks in the bottom half of universities in the country in its level of organic farming research. The state Department of Agriculture does not have a program that specifically aims to promote organic agriculture. Even so, Doyle said he intends to strengthen the state's support for organic agriculture. Organic Valley dairy products and other organic foods are available at a number of grocery stores in Door County.